Titans of Chaos

Coming closer. I squinted through the pain and tried to see their inner nature.

One was cunning, clever, quick-witted, delighting in lies. The other was disciplined, fearless,steadfast, quiet with menace.

The two fates contending over us. I could only venture a guess: The decree of Trismegistus that noone could outrun him. The other one? The decree of Mavors that no one could threaten our liveswithout summoning him. Or maybe this was an older, larger, more permanent fate. Perhaps thiswas the decree of Mavors that no one could overcome him in any feat of arms or battle.

I said, "I can see them. The fates. I can wake them up, but they will still be trapped by theirspells."

Spells. I had interfered with the spell the nymphs had used to enchant Colin. How much did I needto interfere before Victor could zap one of them, make it go away? Maybe I could step in forQuentin, just for a moment.

I reached out with a tendril of energy, pointing it toward the flow of time, extended...

The voice of Trismegistus whispered in my ear, "Pale Amelia with her hair and heart of gold! Thepoker game is almost over now. Would you prefer to see, or fold? Just pick for me which one ofyou must die. I will spare the other four. What do I need four corpses for? The deal is real, andmuch too good for you to deny."

I shouted back, "None of us will betray the others! We stand or fall together!"

"Ahhhh! You will never imagine how grateful I am to hear you say that, filth of Chaos. With yourown mouth you have said it; you are one in the eye of the law; which law I call and now convoke:Hear me!" ,

My sight was almost gone, but in shadows and blurs, I saw what happened. A tiny dot swelled upin size, became a man cloaked in white, a wand of serpents in his hand, wings on his feet.

Trismegistus was now inside with us. My words had somehow invited him in.

With a flutter of his wand, he threw one serpent onto me; the other he threw onto Victor. Bothsnakes must have had the same paradigm Echidna used. The one on me became as large as ananaconda.

The one on Victor simply grew and kept growing, while Victor pelted it with chemicals,explosives, and energies of various types. It was larger than a freight train when it rolled overhim. I did not see what happened to Victor, but his azure light winked out. I think it swallowedhim whole.

I was wrapped in a crushing grip. The tendril of energy I was reaching with began to flicker andfade.